Arsenal were quick to congratulate three of their African contingent on Twitter last night.
Gunners trio Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny have helped their respective country qualify for next year’s African Cup of Nations competition.
The tournament was delayed until next January due to the pandemic.
And Arsenal fans have pointed out that this means at least three of their players – not including Ivory Coast’s Nicolas Pepe just yet – could well miss a chunk of the 2021-22 campaign.
The competition will run from January 9 until February 6 in 2022.
And here’s how some Arsenal fans responded to their club’s tweet about the players:
Obviously this isn’t something that Mikel Arteta will be panicking over just yet, considering it’s about nine months away.
But still, Arsenal will need to plan for the loss of Aubameyang, Partey and Pepe if his country also seal their place in the competition.
As for Elneny, well he isn’t a first-team regular under Arteta, but him and Partey do operate in a similar role and that’ll put a little bit of extra strain on midfield options, if he’s still an Arsenal player by then, that is.
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